The invention described herein pertains to signs of the type in which there are several panels having slats that are interleaved and relatively slidable individually so as to accomplish display of several images or pictures sequentially. In particular, the invention resides in an improved actuator for such signs.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,430,371; 3,421,240 and 4,489,514 disclose multiple interleaved sliding panel signs in which various kinds of actuator mechanisms are used. The actuator disclosed herein is for sliding the panels in signs of the general type described in the cited patents. Usually the panels in this type of sign are comprised of a horizontal strip to which vertical slats having portions of a picture printed on them are attached. The actuator mechanism typically drives one slat panel at a time relative to the other slat panels for displaying the pictures in sequence. Some of the disadvantages of known panel actuators is that they contain a large number of parts such as links and cams which form a complex mechanism that is often noisy, has increased likelihood of premature failure and is costly to manufacture and maintain.